Melbourne players surround skipper Tayla Harris after her goal which gave the Demons the lead. Photo: AFL MEDIA
GRAND FINAL
MELBOURNE 2.7 (19) d BRISBANE 2.3 (15)
True to their rallying cry, the Demons did it for Daisy. But it was no cakewalk for Melbourne on a cloudy, humid spring Queensland afternoon.
The Dees had to fight for every metre in their gritty four-point victory they vowed to deliver for their 34-year-old veteran captain, Daisy Pearce, to win their first AFLW premiership, besting a tough Brisbane side.
And if there truly are footy deities, they finally smiled on the Dees’ Tayla Harris, who had until this season-decider had been on the losing end three times with three different clubs.
In those defeats, Harris had averaged just three touches and had kicked just one goal. But with just over nine minutes left in the third term, Harris cleverly snuck into the goal square when the ball was being contested deep in Melbourne’s end — giving her just enough time to elude defenders, get loose and clunk a contested mark against Lions’ ruck Tahlia Hickie, who was helping out down back.
Harris, sporting a bandage underneath her left eye, which had been bloodied in the previous term, converted the resultant set shot from point blank range, to put her side up 16-12 and give it a lead it never relinquished.
The Demons won control of the epic arm-wrestle late in the first term, then dominated play the rest of the way.
Possession-wise, Melbourne owned the second term, as its hard work at the stoppages propelled it into its attack for most of the quarter and starved the Lions’ vaunted midfield and forward brigades of the ball.
Brisbane’s Jesse Wardlaw had just one ball kicked her way and had just one touch to half time, while her electric small forward teammate, Courtney Hodder had none.
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But despite a snap for goal by the Dees’ Irishwoman and Gaelic footballer Blaithin Mackin — set up by some manic pressure and ball winning by teammate Alyssa Bannan — Melbourne couldn’t dent the scoreboard enough to overtake Brisbane, which despite being held scoreless, led by two points at the major break.
Finally in the third term, Melbourne hit the front, due largely to the efforts of Eliza West, who finished with an equal game-high 19 possessions, seven clearances, and six tackles. Olivia Purcell, meanwhile, amassed 16 touches, while Maddie Gay and Tyla Hanks contributed 15 each.
For the Lions, although Ally Anderson got the biggest accolades earlier in the week by winning the AFLW’s best and fairest award, it was her teammate Shannon Campbell who won best on ground honours. From quarter-time, Campbell repelled countless attacks, collecting an equal best 19 possessions, and taking a match-high eight marks.
Cathy Svarc got off to a red-hot start in the first quarter for Brisbane, gathering five influential possessions, three clearances, laying four tackles and converting a set shot after winning a free kick for being taken high.
The Lions limited the Dees to just one behind — a wayward snap off Pearce’s boot, but when Melbourne was building momentum in the dying minutes, Brisbane’s Nat Grider singlehandedly snuffed it out, saving a certain goal by running down Megan Fitzsimon who was speeding toward the sticks and had just dropped the ball toward her right boot, ready to fire.
The Dees defence though, which conceded the fewest points in the comp this season, was true to form, holding Wardlaw and Hodder to just three and four touches respectively on the day, and keeping the Lions scoreless in the second and final terms, to secure the premiership.
